Comment by bishiesparkleflash on Simulate and Defer To More Rational Selves · 2015-01-02T19:21:15.915Z · LW · GW

I do that exact thing (inaccurate mental models of people) too! Have you found any useful ways to counteract that?

I haven't found any other way than forcing myself to consciously look at unconscious models of people i make from time to time if it is possible and updating the models accoringly but this methos has not been very effective.

Comment by bishiesparkleflash on My Algorithm for Beating Procrastination · 2014-05-24T11:48:21.127Z · LW · GW

This is exactly the problem I have when studying anything I am not already good at. Instead of not letting minor failures (e.g. misplacing a number while calculating the determinant of a matrix and thus spoiling the whole thing by that minor mistake) demotivate me and having a healthy mindset like "Okay, I misplaced a number, but I'll do better next time and it was not a principal error." I immideatly get into the shame spiral and start thinking things like "I misplaced a number, I am worthless and stupid and everyone is so much smarter than me, I am a failure, etc.". It gets ever worse if I make mistaked repeatedly.

This spiraling applies to anything, from subjects I desperately want to be good at to reading LW and not understanding things immideatly and spiraling into "I am stupid and everyone on here is so smart therefore I am a failure and less worthy of anything". (I'm fairly new here and probably younger than the average user, so I still have a lot to learn).

If anyone has tips on escaping shame spirals, I'd greatly appreciate it!